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Wednesday, 13 January 2010

Canon 5D Mark II Price Drop...and Why

The Canon 5D Mark II has just been the beneficiary of a nice price drop, putting its number below $2500 for the first time. (B&H throws in two excellent 4GB CF cards and a shoulder bag to further sweeten the deal.)

This is a strategic move on Canon's part, to try to suck a few more fence-sitters out of the camera market before February. Because if you put your ear to the ground, that rumbling you'll hear is a thundering herd of new Nikons just over the horizon. (Anybody Canon can entice with a 5D Mark II now will not be in the market for the D700 replacement a month from now, in case you're wondering how a price drop can be strategic.) What's coming? I don't know anything official—no non-disclosure agreement and nobody in the know has spilled any beans to me in private—but the rumors are that there'll be some major new high-level Nikons in the first couple of weeks of February, a D700s and a D800 and maybe an even bigger surprise. If you enjoy following new camera introductions, well...cue the theme music.

No interest here. I'm set for the foreseeable future, certainly on the 35mm-size dslr genre.

Certainly the 5DII will have a successor and it may indeed be coming up soon. Canon has a history of introducing major new camera models around Olympics so watch the skies in February.

Of course I've no idea what a new model will be. But I'd bet a 6-figure sum that it features more HD video feature embellishment than still photo improvements. It's the new craze and, after all, what's left to improve in 35mm full-frame still photography?

I think I'm pretty much done with the Nikon crawl. I waited a long time in anticipation of FF, but by the time it finally arrived I couldn't justify the $5K difference between a D3x and the MKII I use now. The D3x just isn't that much better or better made. Now, if Nikon finally offers a FF camera with pro options at a reasonable price am I going to jump back? Why should I? I've finally learned to treat DSLR development like my hometown Chicago weather:just wait a few minutes and it will change.

I am so deliriously happy with my last set of mega purchases that I'm sure Nikon's announcements will hold no allure for me. Wait. What seems off about that statement? Mike has exhibited a justified skepticism about my ability to keep my palms from sweating on the question of new gear. We've all seen the symptoms. Nikon digital RF? Nahh . . . just dreaming.

This also could be a delayed reaction to the Sony A850, which is still $500 less than the MKII even with the price reduction. I don't have any info about how the Sony is selling, but if I were buying into a camera system for the first time (and needed over 20mp) I'd have to seriously consider it.

My guess is that Canon's stratgy will be to drop the price of the 5DII to compete with the A850 and introduce a new body to compete with D700 replacement. Packaging the new 1DsIV sensor in a 7D-like body and calling it the 3D seems like the obvious next step for Canon.

Neil,
I am very happy with my 5D2. I'm sure the 7D and the D300 beats it in responsiveness, but the 5D2 is not bad in those areas, and it was not meant to be a sports camera, it was meant to give the max image quality for a reasonable price, and I think it does that remarkably. If it was also super-tough and super-sporty, it could not have been less than half the price of the 1Ds.

Well, one can be disappointed with the 5DII for various reasons (the AF mainly) but it's not Canon's 1 series and it doesn't mean Canon anything is "in trouble". The 5DII is my main camera for events and it has been a phenomenal camera. It's low light ability has allowed me to make some photos that I never would have made before. And it works beautifully with Canon's best lenses.

I too am a very happy 5DII owner. Anything from either Canon or more so Nikon given glass investment is going to have to be exceptional to get me out of the field and bothering to look. The 5DII has me taking photos not caring anymore about what the next camera features. Can't be bad.

I'd rather see Nikon rediscover the f/4 zoom. An f/2.8 zoom isn't as critical for digital as it is for film, especially given it's bulk and price. Canon understands this, and if I ever switch to the big C, their 17-40mm, 24-105mm and 80-200mm f/4 lenses will be a key reason.

You just have to look at either Nikon or Canon rumours dot com to see all the latest rumours which are rife, with it being PMA next month, yes it’s the silly season. I expect there will be pre PMA launches by both C & N early next month, and you never know Sony may bring out 3 version of yet another entry level DSLR :)

It's probably just a historical artifact, but the "low-pro" space has been interestingly divided; Canon got the high-res piece (5D), but Nikon got the fast-action (D300, D700). I suppose the next step is for both of them to compete for both pieces.

Looks like the "high-pro" space contains high-speed vs. high-res choices from both N and C, the "lo-pro" space has only one (as above), and then down in hi-consumer (D90 on the Nikon side) and lo-consumer (D5000 etc. on the Nikon side) it makes sense to not subdivide.

(The "space" names are somewhat arbitrary, and lots of cameras are used outside their defined space. I, an amateur, shoot a D700, and I know pros who shoot D90s and things (often as a secondary backup or something, but they shoot them).)